Written by Aaron Fischman
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Sunday Night Football: NFC Showdown

Last week’s primary Sunday night storyline asked how Peyton Manning would perform in his first regular-season game in more than 20 months. This week’s question: Will Jim Schwartz and Jim Harbaugh properly shake hands after the game this time?

Just as Manning proved he was fully capable of quarterbacking the Broncos, something tells me the two Jims will put on their big boy shoes and shake hands in a respectful manner. Both teams however, think that storyline is ridiculous and so do I. Much more importantly, this game features two of the NFC’s best teams.

San Francisco, who boasted the second-best scoring defense last season, showcased its defensive dominance yet again last week. The 49ers opened their season with three sacks of the reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers. Although he passed for just over 300 yards, San Francisco contained an offense that averaged 35.0 points per game a season ago. Thanks to the Niners’ defensive pressure, Green Bay only scored two offensive touchdowns. Let’s not forget San Francisco completely shut down the Packer run game as well. AccuScore simulations project the 49ers to force 2.1 Detroit turnovers, a significant advantage over the 1.4 turnovers San Francisco is expected to commit.

To see AccuScore’s picks against the spread, on the moneyline and Totals for the Lions vs 49ers, visit NFL Expert Picks page

By contrast, the Lions are much better-known for their explosive offense. In Week 1 against the Rams, Matthew Stafford started slowly throwing three first-half interceptions. Fortunately for Detroit he bounced back in a huge way. The former No. 1 overall pick led his team on two 80-yard touchdown drives over the game’s final 9:45, one of which was capped off by a five-yard Kevin Smith touchdown run. Stafford’s 355-yard performance was most among NFL quarterbacks through a week of play.

Detroit’s run defense was stout in Week 1 against the Rams, but Frank Gore has rushed for an average of 125.3 yards over his four career games against the Lions. Gore is coming off an impressive 112-yard effort last week. He is however, expected to share some of his carries with Kendall Hunter as AccuScore is forecasting approximately 15 rushes for Gore and 9.6 for Hunter.

AccuScore’s forecast gives San Francisco a 61.0 percent chance of victory, but predicts Johnson will haul in nearly seven catches for more than 100 yards in a losing effort. Johnson’s quarterback is expected to pass for 279 yards. For the 49ers – following Michael Crabtree’s seven-catch, 76-yard effort in Week 1 – AccuScore has Crabtree and Vernon Davis neck-and-neck at the top of San Francisco’s receiving projections.

In one of last year’s best games, the 49ers handed the 5-0 Lions their first regular-season loss thanks to a late Alex Smith touchdown pass. Smith would only pass for 125 yards on the day, but his six-yard strike to Delanie Walker would make all the difference giving the 49ers the much-needed win. As usual, Johnson made seven catches for 113 yards. For San Francisco, with the exception of Crabtree who amassed 77 receiving yards on seven catches, not a single receiver made more than two catches on that day.